Jump Start # 1757

2 Timothy 1:12 “For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.”

  Confidence in the Lord is not only necessary in our walk with God but it is a determining factor into how well or successful we will be spiritually. Paul was so confident that he was willing to suffer and endure ill treatment as a Christian. These things did not shake him. He knew. He knew the Lord was right.

When we do not have confidence in what we believe, doubt blocks our hope. We become unsure. Eve wasn’t confident. With just a few words, Satan had her dizzy and not sure what she believed. The next thing we know, she’s reaching up for the forbidden fruit. Satan continues to do the same thing with us. When we are not confident, when doubts have clouded our thinking, we, too, reach out for forbidden fruit. Our fruit may not be on a tree. It might be in a bottle of alcohol. It might be in the arms of someone we are not married to. It might be in forms of stealing from our company. Unsure. Dizzy in our faith. Clouded thinking. Doubts about what God really says or means. Forbidden fruit not only seems appealing, it seems to be the right choice.

I know whom I have believed. That’s the answer. Confidence in the Scriptures. I have heard folks debate for a long time the question about, “what if all that we are doing turns out to not be true?” What if man wrote the Bible? What if Jesus never rose from the grave? What if all of this isn’t so? And the usual reply folks make is, “Well, if it’s not true, I still have lived a good life.” They say that and then counter, “but what if it is true?” This seems to satisfy most Christians. It doesn’t  me. Paul told the Corinthians that if Christ was not raised from the dead, our faith is worthless, we are still in our sins, those who have died, are finished and done and we ought to be pitied. We believed something that wasn’t true. We have lived a lie, if none of this is true. We have encouraged others to believe this lie, if none of this is true.

Confidence in the Lord leads you to another line of reasoning. It leads you to believe that it is impossible for this not to be true. It is impossible for the Bible not to be from God. Too many proofs for it to be any other way. Prophecy. Unity of writers. Accuracy with history, sciences and the times. Man couldn’t have written this story. Impossible. There is no other option.

From that, what the Bible says is true and accurate. We will be raised some day. How do you know that? The Bible says so. We will stand before God some day? How can you be so sure? The Bible says so. The earth will be destroyed some day? Are you sure? Absolutely. There will be Christians alive on earth when Jesus comes. Are you sure? Positively. Hell is real. Heaven is real. You can’t have one without the other. How can you say that? The Bible shows us that. Unless one believes in Christ, he will not be saved. Are you sure about that? Yes. Absolutely. How? The Bible. It is impossible for the Bible not to be from God. What the Bible says is right. 100%.

Confidence. This is what our college students need as they walk through the classrooms of universities. College professors will challenge them. They are confident that the Bible is man-made. They will mock believers. They will push the limits of testing the faith of Christians. They have no room to even consider creation. Most science based and philosophy based studies today rip apart any faith in an eternal God. Young believers, especially those who are not confident, graduate with a degree four years later and a faith that has been tossed to the side of the road. Giving up on God and the Bible, opens them to a lifestyle of sin, selfishness and materialism. Greed becomes the new god. Fun becomes worshipped. Doing whatever I feel like is the new gospel. What happened? A faith was crushed by a serpent that created doubts, got them dizzy and put question marks where God placed exclamation points.

I know whom I have believed. Be thou faithful even to death is what the church at Smyrna was told. That expression means much more than staying with it until you are old and die some day. It carries the idea that you stay with it, even if you are put to death. A sword to your throat, now do you believe? Do you want to change your mind? Confident still? The words of Heaven are, “Be faithful even to death.” Be faithful even if it costs you your life. Never cave in. Never waver. Never add question marks. Never doubt. There are things worst than death, and one of them is dying without faith.

I know whom I have believed. For us, at least for now, the sword isn’t pointed to our throats. But the sword comes in different forms. It may be the laughter of those around you because you won’t tell a lie, take a drink, snort some drug or say a bad word. It may come from those who ridicule you for going to church services as much as you do. They might even say, “Are you that bad?” The sword may look like lust. The sword may look like pride. The sword may look like worry. It may be our own family who holds the sword up to us. It may be co-workers. It may be friends. Be faithful unto death. I know whom I have believed.

I fear that sometimes in our teaching, we have pushed baptism so much that we have not truly understood nor established faith as it ought to be. If a person truly believes, then they will do whatever God says, including being baptized. An auditorium full of baptized folks who are not sure what they believe or who lack real confidence in the Lord is nothing more than a weak church. Evangelism won’t happen, because the people are not sure of it themselves. When trials come, people run like Chicken-little, screaming the sky is falling. Fear and worry dominate weak faith. Discouragement comes easily to those with weak faith.

What’s the answer? Spiritual confidence. Strong faith. I know whom I have believed. That type of faith leads to Paul later saying, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.” I have. I have because I know whom I believe. I have because I am confident that this is right. There is no way that is cannot be right.

How do you get that confidence? Put your nose in the Bible. Spend time thinking, seeing and believing. Just because someone is loud, has all kinds of degrees listed after his name, has written books, doesn’t mean he really knows what he is talking about. Don’t cave in. Don’t be afraid. Why do you believe? Stand upon those facts. Be confident. Your confidence in the Lord will color your decisions. It will show by the choices in your life.

I know whom I believe…do you?

Roger

Jump Start # 1506

2 Timothy 1:12 “For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.”

  I like this verse. It’s like a suitcase that is so stuffed that one has to sit on it to get it closed. We notice the heavy use of personal pronouns. Paul refers to himself six times. Six times in one sentence. Out of 39 words, six of them are the pronoun, “I.” I suffer. I am not ashamed. I know. I have believed. I am convinced. I have entrusted. Wow! That’s a lot of action on Paul’s part. His faith was not dormant. It wasn’t God who was doing everything, either. This wasn’t a one way street. Paul believed. Paul was convinced. Paul trusted. Paul knew.

Don’t you wish you could say that? Sometimes, with us, it’s just the opposite. I’m not sure anymore what I believe. I’m not sure that God will answer my prayers. I don’t think God will help me. I don’t know if I can hang on much longer. The Gospel of doubt leads to despair and defeat. This certainly wasn’t the language of Paul.

A couple of thoughts here.

First, this amazing believer suffered. Paul began this sentence, “For this reason I also suffer these things.” God was going to guard what Paul had entrusted to Him. That is stated deeper in the sentence. But this guarding didn’t exclude Paul from suffering. The suffering Savior is followed by suffering saints. That’s us. That’s Paul. The light that we shine, often offends and blinds others. They don’t want to see it. They want it turned off. They love the darkness more than the light. That’s what Jesus says in John 3.

Some how we have gotten the idea that if I’m doing right, then my life ought to be amazing and trouble free. Paul’s wasn’t. He was considered the scum of the earth. I’ve never really looked up that word “scum.” It reminds me of mold in a locker room. When a teenager I worked in restaurant. One of my jobs was to take a huge pot full of grease and dump it in a dumpster. It was so heavy I could barely carry it. I’m certain today we would be in all kinds of environmental trouble for doing that. The grease was hot, smelled and had what I think was scum floating on the top. Another lovely summer Job I had was working in a fishery. Gold fish were raised in a hatchery and then shipped all over the world. It was an amazing process. The fish would be brought in from the many ponds. They were sorted out in troughs. Dead fish were tossed into a large trash can. When the can was full to the top of dead fish, it was loaded into a really old dumpy pickup. When the back of the pickup was full of a dozen or so trash cans full of dead fish, it became my job to drive it up to a trash heap and pour the dead fish out. There was a mountain of dead, smelly fish. I only did that one time. I told the boss it was more than I could handle. They laughed but I didn’t care. I have never smelled anything so bad as that mountain of dead fish. Scum. Paul told the Corinthians that he was the scum of the earth. God allowed that. There wasn’t universities named after Paul, not back then. He was a hunted man.

Let’s stop measuring how much we think God loves us by the quality of goodness in our lives. Paul had it tough, but the Lord sure loved him. The lovers of darkness may treat you like scum. That’s ok. God loves you.

Second, Paul tells us that God is able to guard what we have entrusted to Him. God is able. That’s the spirit of the three Jewish boys who stood before the Babylonian king. Our God is able to deliver us. Hebrews tells us that God is able to save those who draw near to Him. Jude tells us that God is able to keep you from stumbling. He is able. That’s a great thought. Again, we might limit God. We may think that He is not able. He won’t, we may say. But, He is able.

God is able to guard what we have entrusted to Him. What would that be? Our faith. Our hearts. Our soul. Our lives. God is able. God is able to help us. God is able to protect us.

The suffering Paul understood that God was able to guard that faith that he had. What was of most importance to Paul, was that faith. His life would be taken, but not his faith. His faith was securely rooted in the Most High.

A great passage about Paul. It helps us in troublesome times. We worry. We get scared. We wonder. Now, we know. We can know like Paul knew. We will suffer, but He is able to guard what we’ve entrusted to Him. We are not alone. We are not forgotten. What we are going through is not for naught. God knows.

Helpful thoughts.

Roger

Jump Start # 1261

2 Timothy 1:12 “For this reason I also suffer these things,  but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.”

  Yesterday, in our Jump Start we talked about deception. Not seeing ourselves as God sees us. Fooling ourselves. This happens all the time. A person can be convinced that they are right with God when they are not. The Pharisees were like this. Jesus used graphic illustrations to show how deceived they were. They were like white washed tombs, the Lord said. Pretty on the top side, but beneath the soil, rotting bones. They were like a dish which had been washed on the outside, but the inside was dirty. Deceiving others. Deceiving self. Not deceiving God.

Most folks that make the effort to go to some church on a Sunday morning are convinced that they are doing pretty good. Sure, there would be some minor things that they need to fine tune, but all in all, they are better than most. They’d be convinced that they are saved. They’d be sure that they were going to Heaven. Yet so many do not understand what God says. They worship as they want, not as God wants. They pray. They read their Bible. They raise their families. They are nice, good people. They are generous, helpful and contribute to bettering the value of others.

The amazing thing is that when we read the book of Acts, we are introduced to people such as Cornelius who would top the list of great people. Godly. Prayerful. Giving alms. Yet, he wasn’t considered saved. The eunuch from Ethiopia is another one. He had traveled all the way to Jerusalem to worship. He had purchased a private copy of Isaiah and was reading it. Reading Isaiah! Philip, the preacher, met him and preached Jesus to him. He wasn’t saved. These two examples show that goodness can be a great deception.  A Christian is a good person. But just being good doesn’t make one a Christian. It’s knowing Jesus. It’s following Jesus. It’s doing what the Bible says.

Our verse today, from Paul, demonstrates the confidence and assurance that comes from knowing Jesus. The difference between Paul and those who are deceived is that Paul knew. The deceived think they know, but they don’t. Paul had centered his life around the word of God. He taught it. He believed it. He obeyed it. He used it. He spoke it.

It’s easy to allow someone else to tell us what to believe. That is the danger preachers face. We preach and teach and some will take what we say without thinking, checking or doing their own homework. Books can do the same thing. Someone writes some thoughts, throws in a few verses, it sounds pretty good, and it is believed and accepted without thinking things through. Those mighty Bereans searched the Scriptures daily to see whether the things they were hearing was so. There was a confidence and trust in the word of God. The Bible was the final answer. This is how Jesus used the Bible. When questioned about divorce by the Pharisees, He referred to Genesis. When tempted by Satan, He quoted passages from Deuteronomy. When the Sadducees challenged Him about the resurrection, Jesus referred to the Bible. He didn’t quote scholars. He didn’t say, “My church teaches this.” He didn’t say, “I feel…” He went to the Bible.

All of this leads us to the thought that we must be opening the Bible often. We must be looking in the Bible often. We must understand the words. We must ask questions. We must investigate, dig, do some research. We must think for ourselves. Now two things top this list.

First, we must be interested enough to want to do this. If the interests is not there, then we will not do this.

Second, we must put the effort and energy into doing this. It takes some time. It’s easier to just let someone else do your thinking for you. It’s easier for someone to just tell you what you are supposed to do. But those are the very ways deception is allowed into our hearts. We let someone else convince us. We get talked into some thing. It’s like going to look at new cars. You best be careful when you do this. The next thing you know is that you are sitting in a new car. Then before you know it, the salesman has keys in hand, and you are driving that car around the block. And before you know it, you are sitting in his little cubicle signing papers. All you came to do was look. You drive home that new car and late at night you start thinking about payments and finances and it hits you. That dreaded buyer’s remorse. You wished now that you hadn’t bought it. You are too embarrassed to take it back, so you are stuck with something that you were talked into. This leaves a sour taste in your mouth.

For some, that car buying experience is the same with religion. The slick salesman, happens to be a smooth talking preacher. He talks fast, smiles a lot and the next thing you know you’re told to do this and that and your head is spinning. That slick preacher has you signed up to teach the two-year-old class, convinced you to give a huge amount of money, and sent home telling you that you are saved, and you don’t know what has just happened. Modern religion, American style. This is why so many dread preachers. We dread them like car salesmen. We fear that they are going to convince us of something and then guilt us into something.

Such is not what you read in the New Testament. Preachers did not act that way. The convincing came from the Bible. Open the book and show the Bible. With the eunuch, Philip began right where he was reading, Isaiah. He showed him Jesus. He could read. He could think. He could ask questions.

The difference between being convinced and being deceived is truth and trust. When we are convinced, we can show why we believe. Our faith is built upon truth. It’s God’s word that has caught our attention and turned our heads. Deception involves something that isn’t right. To deceive is to trick, lie or convince someone into doing what they don’t want to do. The deceived trust the words of the deceiver. Their confidence is in what someone else tells them. That’s what happened to Eve. She was deceived by Satan. She trusted his words more than God’s word. Satan didn’t prove himself. He offered no evidence. He lied. He added words. He twisted things. Poor Eve didn’t think things out. She didn’t ask questions. She accepted what he said as truth. She was convinced that God was wrong. That’s deception!

God wants us to be sure. He wants us to be confident. Paul, from our passage today, knew. He was sure. The Bible built his faith. The Bible is where is faith stood.

Deceived or convinced…there is a difference.

Roger

Jump Start # 608

2 Timothy 1:12 “For this reason I also suffer these things, but  I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.”

This verse seems to sum up the life of the apostle Paul. It is a very personal verse. Notice how many times he uses the word “I”, six times. He is talking about himself, but more so, he is talking about the Lord.

• I suffer
• I am not ashamed
• I know
• I am convinced
• I have entrusted

It’s not “we”, but “I”.  This is where our faith is lived. It’s not what we are doing, it is what am I doing. It’s not what the church believes, it is what I believe. Our faith, to be real, must belong to us, to me.

I especially like the expression, “I know whom I believe.” His faith was more than just personal, it was in a person, Jesus Christ. His faith wasn’t in the system of Christianity, though, he believed in that and taught that, his faith was in Jesus. It was Jesus, not the system of Christianity that would save him, guard him and help him. He knew Jesus. He believed in Jesus. He trusted Jesus. He was not ashamed of Jesus. His faith was in the person of Jesus.

Now to that thought, “I know whom I believe…” Just what is it that one knows? It is easy for us to manufacture a Jesus that fits my needs and my liking. A Jesus that is all fun, or a Jesus that is totally cool. How about a Jesus that doesn’t mind me bending the rules now and then? Or, a Jesus that loves me even though church isn’t my thing? A rock ‘n roll Jesus? A biker Jesus? Many years ago a group called Brewer and Shipley had a hit song that said,  “One toke over the line sweet Jesus, one toke over the line.” I’m not sure what the song was about, but I expect it had something to do with smoking dope. A sweet Jesus that was ok with one toke over the line.

Paul said, “I know whom I believe…” The Jesus Paul knew came from God’s revelation. It was the Jesus of the Bible—that’s the  only real Jesus. Anything else is made up and not true. God reveals Jesus to us. No one was like Jesus. No one was as compassionate as Jesus. No one helped as much as Jesus. No one was as true and genuine to God as Jesus was. No one was concerned about keeping God in the picture as much as Jesus was.

So, what do we know about Jesus?

• We know that He loves you, not just when you are good, but at all times.
• We know that He has a plan for you
• We know that He wants you to spend forever with Him in Heaven
• We know that He wants you to follow His word, all of it, even the tough things.

Each week Christians gather to remember the Lord’s Death by taking the Lord’s Supper. It is a reminder. Without that reminder, we may forget. Yet, God doesn’t need reminders to remember us. He doesn’t have a photo album that He flips through or a ribbon from our hair or some memento from days gone by so that He would never forget. God is not like that. We need those things. God knows you. Do you know Him?

I am…is what Paul declared. I am not ashamed. I am convinced. I know… The gloom of doubt can make us wonder sometimes. Fear, worry, stress, and feeling alone all combine to chip away at what we know. Remember the one who wrote those words, was sitting in a Roman prison awaiting a trial that would probably lead to his death. Yet, those things did not take away what he knew. It’s that rock solid faith that will get us through. People raise questions. Satan fires his missiles. Some ridicule. Others mock. It’s not popular. You’ll not find Hollywood lining up for Jesus. Yet, he knew.

How about you? Can you say that? Can you live that way? What’s keeping you? Your prison walls of problems seem impossible to escape, but He is able. That’s how Paul saw it.

Roger

Jump Start # 316

2 Timothy 1:12 “For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.”

  I know. I am convinced. Those are two key expressions from this verse that the apostle Paul wrote. You’ll also see here: I suffer; I am not ashamed; I have entrusted. Six times in this one sentence Paul refers to himself. He is not bragging, nor is the emphasis about him, but rather what Christ is doing for him. Paul’s faith was personal, real and very much a part of his life.

  Let’s focus upon the two key phrases:

  I know. This is more than intellect. It is more than memorizing facts. This realization is what gave him the confidence. It is what kept him from being ashamed. I know. I know Christ. I know what He wants. I know the outcome.

  Paul’s faith was solid, like concrete. It wasn’t like the weather, that is always changing. Some are like that. Inside a church building, they are rock solid. Out by themselves, they are not so sure. With questionable friends, they act like they don’t believe. Vacillating. Compromising. Changing. Shifting. Tossed to and fro. A show comes on TV declaring that scientists have proven that angels are myths and suddenly they don’t know. Another show declares that the stories of the Bible are borrowed fables of ancient times. Doubt arises. Friends tell them that God is loving. He couldn’t send anyone to Hell. Confusion takes over. They still go to church services but their faith is on shaky ground. A strong wind will blow them over. 

  This is not the description of Paul. He knew. He was convinced. He was not ashamed. Sure he was an apostle, but he told the Ephesians that when they read what he wrote, they would know the insights that he had. His faith was founded upon the word of God. The Bible is true, always. TV shows are trying to debunk the Bible. For years, modern man has tried to disprove the Bible. Can’t be done. Will never be done. How do you know? Because it’s from God. Historically accurate, prophecies fulfilled, unity of theme and purpose all point to God. Man can’t agree on who shot Kennedy. Ask the experts why the South lost the Civil War and you’ll get dozens of different answers. We can’t even get our politicians to agree—on the state level or the national level. So how did the Bible, written over a period of 1500 years, on three different continents, in three different languages, involving over 40 people, many who never knew, communicated nor met each other, tell the complete story of Jesus? Only God can do that!

  Paul knew. Paul knew what was right. Paul did get confused when he met with stoics or philosophers or Greeks. Paul didn’t compromise when he was with Jews. He knew. He knew God. He knew the book.

 To have such confidence, our second, key principle here, makes all the difference in the world. This confidence moves you to do what God wants you to do. It answers questions. It defeats speculations and error. You know and you so live. You know what is right. You know what you should do—and you do it. When challenged, it is to the Bible you go. When questioned, it is to the Bible you find the answers.

  What a difference it is to be a people of the book. To have assurance, confidence and hope that is founded upon Jesus Christ. How do you get that? There is no short cut. Open the Bible. Spend time with the Bible. Read. Look at words. Put things together. Think. Learn. You gotta turn the TV off to do this. You gotta spend some time to do this. But stay at it. Work at it. You’ll see. You’ll learn. You’ll know.

  Is it any wonder at the end of 2 Timothy, Paul knew where he was headed after death. He was certain. How could that be? He knew. He had confidence. God tells us. You can know. You can have that assurance. Faith grows and grows and it affects all that you are.

  I know…I am convinced. How about you?

Roger